Parksville Qualicum Beach residents react to Scottish vote

The Scottish independence vote was a nail biter that had people around the world watching closely and the effects will likely be analyzed for a long time.

“We watched all night long,” said Bob Adam, a long time Oceanside resident who moved to Canada from Scotland 47 years ago.

“It got interesting once the results started coming in and Glasgow went ‘Yes,'” he said. “We found it very exciting, mostly I was very proud of Scotland, proud to be Scottish as they showed the world how to do things peacefully.”

Like most close observers, he suggested that the relatively close 55 per cent win by the No side will mean there will be a lot more issues to sort out in the coming weeks and years.

“My own feeling is (Prime Minister David) Cameron was playing by the seat of his pants and he opened a whole can of worms. I think he panicked and caused a whole lot of future problems for himself.”

Before the referendum, Adam told The NEWS that “while in my heart I would like to see independence, in my brain I know it’s not the smartest thing.”

He had predicted a No side win and afterward he said “as of now this was a good result, but down the road I have no idea.”

Another local Scottish expatriate, John Beaton, agreed there will be ramifications, suggesting “the promises that the government made will be hard to deliver on.”

He also said the way people voted, with younger people overwhelming leaning towards independence, means it will likely come up again as demographics shift.

“I found it interesting that the ‘No’ vote was really carried by the over 55 group, in particular the over 65 group,” he said, suggesting “there’s a generational tussle where the older generation took the dream away from the younger people and the working people, which is a little sad.”

While he said he was pleased it was a peaceful, democratic process, Beaton admitted he was disappointed with the result, having told The NEWS that if he was there he would have voted “A strong yes.”

While Cameron claimed victory and suggested it is a done deal, there have been promises to renegotiate the terms of the union.

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